John Lennon impersonator brings Beatles icon back to life

Dec. 06--In 1977, a young musician named Tim Piper discovered "Beatlemania" on Broadway. It was an epiphanous moment. "So," he remembers, "you can make a living doing the Beatles?"

With his forward-brushed hair and sideburns, colored hippie glasses and a chain with a dog tag and a peace sign dangling around his neck, Piper has in fact enjoyed a long career as a John Lennon impersonator on concert stages around the world and on screen -- most notably, "as a ranting, raving, lunatic John" in the 2000 CBS movie "The Linda McCartney Story" starring Elizabeth Mitchell and Gary Bakewell. He's currently at the Hayworth Theatre through Dec. 29 with "Just Imagine," a rock 'n' roll fantasy. The show begins at the end. Lennon was shot and killed 33 years ago today outside of his New York City apartment as he and Yoko Ono were returning from a recording session. But in this show, he comes back for one last concert. "You see the stairway from heaven and in a puff of smoke, there I am," says Piper, who has his sights ultimately set on Broadway and is in the midst of putting together an original, autobiographical musical about the ups and downs of life as a tribute artist.